Pro-choice Democrats say they’ll split if Stupak’s abortion language returns in healthcare legislation

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With the bipartisan healthcare summit coming Thursday, and the White House’s plan for a healthcare insurance overhaul on the table, one of the thorniest issues of the debate appears to be far from resolved within the president’s own party. Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan complains that the White House’s proposal lacks the language which he insisted on including in the bill that cleared the House last year, prohibiting anyone who gets assistance from a proposed new health-insurance exchange from purchasing an abortion. ‘It was at the last minute that Bart Stupak lined up enough Democrats and Republicans by saying that his amendment really was the status quo -- it really was not; this went way past the current law,’’ Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) says. And Schakowsky, who appeared on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show last night, had this to say about any final bill that House members ultimately address: ‘The pro-choice members, 42 of us who signed a letter saying we want to maintain the status quo, will not vote for the bill if it includes the Stupak language.’

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-- Mark Silva